Buffalo Bills Tackle Marcell Dareus’ Brother Killed In Triple Homicide
Buffalo Bills tackle Marcell Dareus’ younger brother was killed in a triple homicide in Pelham, Alabama Sunday, Yahoo Sports reports.
Nineteen-year-old Simeon Gilmore died from gunshot wounds at a home in Pelham along with 22-year-olds Casey Cumberland and Joshua Smith. Twenty-year-old Jon Staggs has been charged with three counts of capital murder and is currently being held in Shelby County prison without bond.
Dareus was a defensive tackle for the University of Alabama before being drafted as the number three pick in 2011. He played in all 16 games that year, scoring 5.5 tackles.
Bills CEO Russ Brandon went on the Howard Simon show Wednesday morning to express his condolences. Brandon said the organization is behind Dareus and his family 100 percent. He also said:
“The most we can do is stand by him. He has obviously had some very difficult times throughout his life. It is amazing what he has accomplished on the football field and the kind of person he is off of it. All we can do is stand by and band together as an organization and a community.”
The 22-year-old is no stranger to loss and hardship. His father, Juleus Dareus, died when he was 6, leaving his mother, Michelle Luckey, to raise seven children — six boys and one girl — on her own. When he was in high school, Luckey almost died from congestive heart failure and was confined to a wheelchair. Her condition made it hard for her to take care of her children, and Dareus eventually went to live with his high school assistant football coach Scott Livingston.
After Livingston was killed in a car accident, Dareus and his siblings — minus the oldest — went to live with Lester Reasor, a former Junior ROTC officer. Luckey’s mother passed away shortly afterward when Dareus was 20.
Marcell Dareus has yet to publicly speak out about his brother’s death, but a source close to the family says he is heading home to Birmingham to be with his family.
